Post-Last Olympian Percabeth fluff
by Aravis exTarkheena
Summary: Annabeth and Percy have a few moments to themselves after the last Olympian. Percy POV. Fluff. I wrote this a couple years ago so before any of the HOO stuff. "Again, I jiggled the knob, and without warning the door swung inward and I landed on top of a blonde, wrapped in a towel. 'Gods Percy, I'm so sorry.' Annabeth said."


I walked into my cabin, blood pounding in my face, and tore off my sweaty orange t-shirt. It was one of my oldest so it there was a little kick of nostalgia every time I put it on. Still, it barely fit me. I had become a lot more muscular, I was taller, and my shoulders were well built now. I wasn't the scrawny kid who fought the minotaur anymore. Life at Camp Half-Blood was pretty good these days. Sure, it felt kind of sad and empty after we'd lost so many in the Titan War, but overall, campfires, capture the flag, and training had resumed. Routine was good for us. The only hitch was that new campers, and old-timers, stopped to stare when I walked past. It got a little disconcerting at times, like "hey man-chill. It wasn't me who asked for broccoli with dinner last night." When I walked to the back of the cabin, I noticed my bathroom door was closed-odd, considering I didn't have any roommates and no one ever stopped to check in on me.

Cautiously, I jiggled the knob. Now, I know what you're thinking. What kind of monster is going to hide in a guy's bathroom. But, I was cautious. Some monsters had gotten past the magical boundaries of Camp Half-Blood on past occasions-occasions that I didn't like to talk about-and even if it was just a prank, when you're a demigod, stuff can go south pretty quick. Again, I jiggled the knob, and without warning the door swung inward and I landed on top of a blonde, wrapped in a towel, painfully smacking my lip against the slate tile.

"Gods Percy, I'm so sorry." Annabeth said

"Owwwww," I groaned, "Do you mind explaining..." and just then I registered that lying under me was Annabeth Chase, girlfriend of all of a month, whose mother hated me, and she wasn't wearing anything but an old Waterland towel that had been stashed in the back of my cabinet for five years.

I scrambled off her. "_Di immortales, _Annabeth!"

"Sorry, she got up awkwardly, careful to keep the towel tightly secured while I dutifully averted my eyes.

"I just gotta get...you know I'm just gonna..." she sidestepped and I accidently got in her way, she moved the other way while I clumsily stumbled around like a drunk tomato.

"Will you just hand me my clothes-yeah-over there. Thanks."

She stepped back into the bathroom which was filled with steam from the shower and when we both tried to shut the door at the same time her fingers almost got caught.

I sat down on my bunk and leaned against the walls, twisting the bedsheets between my fingers. There were boundaries I told myself. Annabeth was my best friend, but I had to toe the line, because in my situation, one wrong move might get Athena in just the right mood to smite me down.

Annabeth emerged again from the bathroom, fully clothed, thank the gods, in a tank top and Goode High School sweatpants.

"Do you have a comb or a brush somewhere?" she asked

"Does it look like it," I answered, miserably running my fingers through an already disheveled mess.

She walked over and sat down in between my knees, leaning against my chest, which right on track with stupid Percy moves, I had forgotten to recover with a shirt.

I didn't say anything.

"So are we gonna talk about this?" Annabeth said. It was more of a prompt, not really a question. She was really into the whole talking about how we feel thing, and I guess it was good. When you trust someone with your life, the last thing you want them to be unsure about is your emotions. And especially after she had called me a coward-gotten right up in my face too-for not admitting that I loved her...well I wasn't anxious to repeat _that. _

"You're wearing my sweatpants." I said stupidly.

She laughed and pressed closer to me. I rested my chin on her shoulder, which was warm and smooth. Having her here, wrapped in my arms reminded me just how tough, but just how vulnerable she really was. Here she was, not powerfully built-certainly not invulnerable-a couple inches shorter than me. In fact, just the right height so that my lips touched her forehead when she leaned against me. By all accounts, I should be the one who's always there for her, to protect her or whatever, but she was the one who had taken a knife for me. At least I had water powers. Annabeth was just a really smart dyslexic kid, and yet she had fought all my battles with me, was twice fighter, twice the strategist.

"So..."

"Mmmmmm," I said.

"Percy, it's okay for you to _like _seeing your girlfriend in a towel."

I prepared for the thunder and lightning, but there wasn't any. Apparently the gods weren't ready to kill us yet. Too much juicy gossip still to come, probably.

"So, were you attracted to me, you know, in a towel?"

"Annabeth," I started, "I don't care if you're covered in a towel, or monster dust, or dirt, or...blood...well actually, I do care about that, because it means-"

"I probably just got done saving your butt."

I cracked a small smile.

"The point," I continued, "is that I'm attracted to _you._"

From the way she sighed and gave me a kiss on the cheek, I guessed that that was one thing which hadn't been on the "top 10 dumbest things to say to girls" list.

The couple moments of listless silence that followed were pretty rare in our crazy-death-around-every-corner world, so they could have lasted forever if I had a say. Unfortunately, the faint hum that came from the fountain in my cabin brought our few seconds of peace to an end.

"Ohhh man, Annabeth just, just will you like...hide or something. It's probably my mom or something. And I probably have to take it."

Annabeth gave me an exasperated look and whipped out her Yankees cap.

Wouldn't you know it, today's mystery caller was my dad.

"Hi son," he tried to sound casual, "I see you and Annabeth are getting along well."

"Dad, is it too much to ask for a little privacy around here?"

"You're the first good love story Olympus has had in awhile. Some of the olympians, namely my charming niece, Lady Athena, have condemned your romance. But, there are others who are rooting for you!"

"Great!" I was getting a little sarcastic now, "You guys should get t-shirts made. Team Ancy, or Percy...Ann..."

"We've adopted Percabeth as the official term right now, but that could change. You'd have to write a formal appeal to the council, however. Aphrodite, specifically is a huge...fan...I guess you could say...and she came up with the name, so you might get some resistance there."

Was he being serious? I couldn't really tell. All I knew was that if I started getting fan mail/relationship advice, I was going to jump off a pier and beg my father to drown me.

"Anyways, son, I just thought I'd commend you on some smooth talking right there."

"Yeah, that's great coming from a 3,000 year old bachelor who has how many demigod children again?"

"I'm better than most," he said, suddenly becoming stern.

"I guess."

"Right, well, I must be off, but if I were you, I'd hurry up and give her the Christmas present we have been discussing. She's probably getting impatient," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "Bye Annabeth, dear!" He waved over my shoulder where she was probably standing, invisible.

I waved my hand through the connection. "Glad that's over."

"Mmmmhmmm," Annabeth folded her invisibility cap and threw it on my bed.

"Your dad reminded me. I have something for you, Seaweed Brain."

"Oh yeah."

"Yeah!" She pulled out a new bronze wrist guard. Just one-I didn't even get a set.

"Great!" I said sarcastically. "Thanks Annabeth. I was starting to think you expected me to play Capture the Flag with the one that you _destroyed_."

"Well, you are invunerable."

"Good thing too! Or my wrist would be crushed in addition to the guard."

"Don't tell me you want me to take it easy on you, Seaweed Brain," she teased.

I rolled my eyes. "Please!"

She looked so beautiful as her chuckling began to catch in her throat, her face started going red, and her eyes creased so much in the corners that there was barely enough room for the tears of laughter to leak out.

"Come on," I grabbed her hand, "I have something for you too."

Together, with her head resting on my shoulder, we walked across the cabin circle (the Stoll brothers wolf whistled in unison), across the fields, and towards the ocean on a snowless Christmas Eve.


End file.
